In The Bleak Midwinter
by Hobbits Angel
Summary: Basically, its about Ginny, looking back on her (very sad) life and then something happens- people die but can they come back to life? She's about to find out!
1. In The Bleak Midwinter

In The Bleak Midwinter.  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling excepting the ones you have never heard of. Got it? Good. Oh, yeah, the title is off the Christmas carol. And when you finish it, don't ask me why I called this because I have no idea.  
  
A/N. Personally I think there are way too many flashbacks for this story's good.  
  
Ginny turned the key in the lock, shaking with fury. Stupid witch, she didn't understand the way it worked.  
  
"If your articles don't spice up in the next month, I'm afraid dear I'll have to sack you."  
It wasn't her fault she hadn't gone for the best career; it wasn't her fault over the events of the year, two years ago.  
  
She shut the door behind her, going into the usual silent, quiet house. She shoved a pan over the oven and poured soup into it. If only she had been an Auror, perhaps all this wouldn't have happened.  
  
"YOU ARE NOT BEING AN AUROR! IT IS MUCH TOO DANGEROUS!"  
  
"But Moody said..."  
"I DON'T CARE WHAT MOODY SAID! LOOK AT HIM, COMPLETELY PARANOID!"  
  
"But Harry'll look after me..."  
  
"AURORS DON'T USUALLY WORK TOGETHER 24/7 EVEN IF THEY ARE MARRIED!"  
  
"Then what can I be? Even Dumbledore said I'd be a great Auror..."  
  
"There are much better things than that. Like journalism, and working at the ministry. Aren't there Arthur?"  
  
Her father looked up and nodded.  
  
"So are you implying that you DON'T want me to work with Harry? I want to work with him, not take up some silly career like journalism."  
  
"Journalism is not silly..."  
"Look at Rita Skeeter."  
  
"There are always bad examples."  
  
"Charlie, Bill, Ron, wouldn't I make a good Auror?"  
  
"You can't go away, besides being an Auror means being away from your family..."  
"You could be killed..."  
"See darling, your brothers don't agree. Now you can be something sensible like an editor..."  
  
"OH JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE JEALOUS! IT DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE TO BE SOMETHING SENSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING SENSIBLE, BUT NO YOU STAYED AS A HOUSEWIFE, AND I AM GOING TO BE AN AUROR!"  
  
She scowled, she hadn't been an Auror, and she had just become some stupid writer from Witches Weekly. And her family had rubbed it on her since she got the job.  
  
"You're a brilliant writer, your articles are easily the best. Didn't I say you'd make a great writer?"  
Her whole family had seemed to be a club, `Keep little Ginny away from danger.' And if she had been an Auror, she wouldn't have been so devastated. She probably would have uncovered the plot. But she hadn't. She had done what her family wanted her to do. Even though it was rubbish and unenjoyable. And boring.  
  
She pulled out her parchment and quill and started writing the next article.  
  
Yawning she looked at the time, and started climbing the stairs wearily up to bed. She looked at the blank pillow beside her. If it hadn't happened Harry would be there. And they had to choose Christmas day as well, it would have been the best she ever had.  
  
"I've just put the children to bed, went to sleep faster than I would have expected."  
  
"Ginny, I've got something to give to you."  
  
He pulled out a medium sized box and pushed it into her hands. Ginny opened it and gasped.   
  
"Oh Harry, you shouldn't have. It's gorgeous!"  
  
It contained a golden bracelet, decorated with colourful stones that looked suspiciously like rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds.   
  
He shrugged, "Felt you needed a treat."   
  
She hugged him and was about to kiss him, when BANG!  
  
Ginny screamed, standing in the doorframe was Voldemort and at least ten Death Eaters.   
  
She couldn't really remember what happened except them shouting to each other and as she heard Voldemort say `Avada Kedrava' one the Death Eaters muttered `Stupefy' at her and she knew he was going to pretend he had killed her. And before she fell into darkness she knew that person was Draco Malfoy. Harry, as he was an Auror, knew from Dumbledore that he was spying on Voldemort and passing information onto the ministry. And the next morning when Ginny came round and saw Harry lying on the floor, dead, and in the children's bedroom, both the twins were had disappeared, their bodies weren't found.  
  
Sitting beside his gravestone, she traced the words with her fingers.  
  
Harry Potter,  
  
Caring father, husband and friend.  
  
The Boy Who Lived Lives No Longer.  
  
Ginny came and sat beside the gravestones of her family every week. She had never really accepted Harry was dead. Every month for a year and a half she had written a letter and sent it off with Hedwig, but it always came back.  
  
She reread the glistening ink, feeling her eyes swell with unshed tears. She carefully and neatly folded it, attaching it to Hedwig's leg.   
  
"You'll find him won't you? Harry always said you found Sirius, just find him Hedwig."  
  
Her piercing eyes looked at her sadly before flying out the window. Ginny followed her with her eyes until she disappeared out of sight.   
  
Two months later she reappeared with the same letter attached to her foot.  
  
She came back to Ginny when she was on the top of a tower at Hogwarts, speaking to Dumbledore, for her next article. He watched her as her eyes lit up with hope and joy and then fell into sadness as she realised it was her own writing.   
  
She could remember saying; "Good try Hedwig." And then she turned back to continue interviewing Dumbledore, tripped on the hem of her robes and went tumbling down the stairs.  
  
She remembers waking up in the wizarding hospital. She can remember the friendly nurse saying there was no lasting damage.   
  
"And what about my baby?"  
The nurse's eyes avoided Ginny's worried eyes. "The fall was quite bad. You had a miscarriage."  
  
She could remember the tears falling silently from her eyes. She had been pregnant before Harry died and the last thing that gave her some hope, `at least I'll have Harry's child,' had gone away and faded.  
  
It had taken much determination to get back to the Ginny she had been. The one thought that helped was `Harry would have wanted you to be the same.' Ron and Hermione had been badly affected, but they were married and had their own living family to care for, Ginny had none.  
  
Hedwig flew over and Ginny absently stroked her.  
"He's still alive, isn't he? He never really died, he just disappeared. But then why can't you find him?"  
  
Hedwig hooted gently.  
  
Ginny felt anger rise steadily higher. "HE IS STILL ALIVE!" She thundered, before rushing back into her house, tears flowing silently down her face.  
  
Sitting on the bed, she reached out with a trembling hand and opened the small, secret drawer in the desk. Opening it she pulled the box out and opened it. Inside, in the top was a note, written in Harry's writing. His last message.  
  
To Ginny  
  
Just to show you how much I love you.  
  
Love Harry.  
  
That was typically Harry, short and sweet. She pulled the bracelet out and stared at it, thinking how elegant it was. She stared at it and then the large diamond in the middle of the design began to clear. The diamond started to shake slightly. After about fifteen seconds it was completely clear and she could see a small room. A small room barely furnished, with a window looking out at the sea and a dark tall figure sitting beside it, his head on his hands, staring at the waves. Someone that looked very familiar.  
  
"I wish I could see her. I wish I could write to her. Why the hell did I have to do this? I'm always thinking of her and the baby. Damn, why am I so helpless?"  
  
The diamond returned to normal, leaving Ginny bewildered. Unless she was very wrong, that figure had been her husband, Harry.  
  
A/N. I had no idea I was going to put that in.  
  
Disclaimer: That idea is from the book, Arthur: The Seeing Stone, by Kevin Crossley Holland. Arthur has a stone that he sees things in.  
  
And I'll end the chapter here, *dodges heavy objects that get thrown at her* I've already written the next chapter, it just needs to get put up. 


	2. See Amid The Winter's Snow

See Amid The Winter's Snow.  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling and the title comes from the Christmas carol. And before you ask, they'll be about two more chapters and yes, they will be named after Christmas carols. Don't ask me why, I'm just plain weird with titles.  
  
"Harry?" Ginny whispered, trembling slightly. The diamond remained the way diamonds are. She put the bracelet back in the box and shut the drawer. Had that been a vision? Professor Trelawny had always said she was indefinitely the best pupil she had ever taught. Not that Ginny bothered with Divination anymore, she had always been too busy, although her life seemed bare, stripped of love.  
  
Maybe they might have something on vision bracelets in the library, or Hermione. She sighed and slipped into a restless sleep.  
  
"Sorry dear, your articles haven't really spiced up over the last month, so I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to sack you," the editor peered over her glasses. "Here are your last wages. Good bye."  
  
Stupid woman, Ginny thought furiously as she pocketed her wages and swept from the office. I was too good for them anyway. And I never really liked that job. But god knows what her mother would say or do.  
  
Still fuming, she walked into a newsagent in Diagon Ally and bought a Daily Prophet. Flicking through the pages until she reached the unemployment section.  
  
"Needed one maid, wages will be discussed. Needs to be good a house cleaning, cooking and be good with children," she read aloud. "A secretary needed for Yvonne Keys, under the Department of Magical Creatures. Wage will be discussed. Qualifications needed are..." She stopped reading and considered it.  
  
"I think I'll enjoy my freedom for a while."  
  
She disapparated and appeared back in her house. She paused at her desk and pulled out a quill and piece of parchment.  
  
Harry, she wrote,  
  
I know you're out there. I love you with all my heart.  
  
Love Ginny.  
  
"Hedwig!" she called and attached the note to her leg. "I know you'll find him, look beside the sea." She kissed the owl's head. "Come back as quick as you can." He won't be out the country, he'll be somewhere in Britain. And all I need to do is wait.  
  
She looked at the window, snow was slowing fluttering down, landing on the hazard, very icy streets. In three weeks, Harry and Tom and Carolyn would have died. But Harry was somewhere out there, he was alive.  
  
She put her head on her arms and waited. After five hours she opened the secret drawer and stared steadily at the diamond. After a few minutes, when she was giving up all hope, the mist started clearing in the diamond, it became clear.  
  
Hedwig was flying, steadily decreasing in height. The snow was still falling, Ginny could make out the sea, waves form flying high into the air. She flew into the barely furnished room Ginny had seen yesterday. She saw Hedwig hoot in joy and land on Harry's shoulder, nibbling his ear.  
  
"Hello darling, back again?" she heard Harry mutter, and his fingers untied the letter. "She said that for the past two years, she just sends these out on rituals, doesn't she?"  
  
Hedwig hooted again and it seemed like she shook her head.  
  
"I wish I could tell her how much I love her, but it's impossible. No one is supposed to know I'm alive except Dumbledore. Just look after her, Hedwig."  
  
The mist thickened and the diamond returned to normal.  
  
"Why didn't I think?" she wondered, angrily aloud. "Why the hell didn't I remember how close Harry and Dumbledore were? Talk about staring the answer in the face. Idiot Ginny, you are such an idiot."  
  
Nothing entrancing about reading the next chapter, except why is Harry staying away? Why has he faked his death? And why does only Dumbledore know where he is? And what exactly is that bracelet? 


	3. The Holly And The Ivy

The Holly And The Ivy.  
  
Disclaimer: Do you think I would be wasting my time on this if I were J.K Rowling? No way, I'd be working on book five. So you can all assume these do not belong to me (though I wish they did) and to J. K. Rowling.  
  
She apparated still muttering angrily to herself and then cursed as she realised she was in the wrong place.  
"This is starting to get very stupid." She walked along the road, her curiosity getting the better of her. Where was she? The snow was becoming thicker, she could barely see. She finally reached a sign declaring she was in `Drano Street'.  
  
She couldn't see many houses and then a large dark shape loomed in front of her. Shuddering, wishing she had brought her cloak, she hurried towards it. Large ivy covered walls appeared surrounding the mansions grounds. Eventually she reached huge gate, covered in snow, ivy and moss. On the top of the black gate, in gold letters, was `Malfoy Manor.'  
  
Must be the Malfoy's manor she thought. She edged closer, the gates wouldn't open. She used the unlocking charm and slipped in the gates, wondering why she was doing this. Draco's father hadn't been put in Azkaban, he had used the same reason as before, under the curse and I know I was wrong. He had got away from imprisonment very narrowly.  
  
"Curse him to hell fires of hell!" her father came striding in, slamming the door behind him, obviously in a very bad mood. "If I can get him for one more thing, I'll get him in that cell if it takes me..."  
  
"What are you on about Arthur?" Her mother appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, frowning slightly, holding a saucepan in her hands.  
  
"That bastard..."  
  
"Arthur, we don't use that sort of language in this house."  
  
"That dirty rat, Malfoy isn't going to Azkaban," his face was full of anger. "He got off, oh so narrowly, if I had one more piece of evidence I'd have had him in that cell. Stupid idiot. Curse him to the banished realm of hell and fire."  
  
"Arthur I understand your anger, but not that kind of language in front of the children."  
  
"OK Molly," he stormed up the stairs, muttering furiously under his breath.  
  
"Phew, Dad's sure got a bee in his bonnet."  
  
"Yeah, Malfoy sure annoyed dad this time, but dad'll get him another time."  
  
"Or someone will," Ron added, looking up from his chess game with Bill. "I think Harry'd stand a good chance of getting him in. He did really well in the Auror training programme. Broke all records, didn't he Ginny?"  
  
She nodded, feeling proud of her soon to be husband.  
  
"And that adds to the reason of you not being an Auror. That man is so dark and evil you would get killed. Now come and help me set the table," her mother's voice floated out the kitchen.  
  
Sighing Ginny walked in to help her.  
  
She walked slowly towards a room, that had light shining out and two figures were in. Finally she managed to reach a bush a few metres from the open window.  
  
"Funny rumours going around Narcissa," she heard his voice come out the window. "Very strange they are too. Voldemort has informed me of all his plans, me being his right hand man, and somehow the information has leaked out into Dumbledore's ears. I would suspect Draco, only he is not in the with the Dark Lord, after Paul realised he was spying on us. In fact one rumour is so stupid it is unbelievable." He laughed. "One Death Eater claims he has seen Harry Potter alive and well. That is impossible, we killed fair and square last year, or the year before." His voice grew colder. "But my Lord believes there may be some truth behind this. He saw, he killed Harry and he thinks this ridiculous rumour has some truth in it. Everybody knows that Ginny survived, and if he were alive surely she would know? But our new plan, our new plan is brilliant and ingenious. Alive or dead Harry is Ginny's wife and so he must love her. So if we capture her Harry would surely come back and rescue  
her? And so we are to make plans to kidnap Ginny, and that shall be easy, she lives by herself. With one wizard and one Muggle family either side. They will be taken care of, easily." He laughed again. "And this is our plan." He went into detailed description of Voldemort's new plan to capture her.  
  
Ginny listened carefully and when he moved on to another subjects she disapparated and appeared at Hogsmeade. It was so cold, if only she had brought her cloak.  
  
"There is a story of a rare thing, a rare event. It is the tale of Tiger Lily the princess. Tiger, as I'll call her, had a husband Ben. They loved each other very much and each was beautiful. Tiger Lily was the most beautiful woman on earth, many powerful men wanted her but Tiger remained loyal to Ben. At this time, there was an evil wizard, like You Know Who, only You Know Who was much worse. He had heard of Tiger's beauty and came up to her palace and then he wanted her with all his heart. Many people feared this wizard, because he did what You Know Who did, only much You Know Who was much worse. He killed his enemies and their families and killed people when he was bored. It is believed he founded the killing curse. So he did the one thing he was good at, he killed Ben and Tiger's children and forced her to be his wife. She was very upset over the loss of Ben and although she remained beautiful, she was full of sorrow and didn't say anything. But she had a bracelet, the  
last thing Ben had given her, about a month before he was killed. She discovered one morning that if she stared at the diamond in the design, she would see past memories of Ben and herself. Before he was killed. Things she saw like the feasts they had, the birth of their children, their marriage. She became happier and kept it secret from her forced evil husband. But one day he found out, he raged at her ad in his fury he chucked it into the fire, and when he took it out, all ruined he threw it into the deepest well he knew of. Tiger Lily cried for days and became even sadder and then a month later her husband woke up and found that in her sorrow she had killed herself." Her mother finished the story and looked at her seven children, all over five. "Time for bed now." Moaning that they wanted more stories they climbed up into their bedrooms and fell asleep.  
  
So maybe, maybe her bracelet is like Tiger Lily's except it can show her what Harry is doing. Maybe Tiger Lily made another to show another sorrowed person over the death of her lover and that she's got it. But it can't show the past memories because he is alive and so it shows Ginny his present time.  
  
Still shivering, pulling her robes closer, she walked up to Hogwarts, hoping,  
  
praying Dumbledore was in.  
  
Treading carefully over the icy path, she opened the heavy oak door and traced the steps to Dumbledore's office. She reached the stone gargoyle and realised she didn't have the password. What was it Harry had said? That Dumbledore used sweet names?  
  
"Sherbet lemon?" she asked tentatively. "Cockroach cluster? Sugar quill? Ice Mice? Pepper Imps? Oh, heck. Lollipop? Just open won't you? Canary cream?"  
The gargoyle leapt aside and revealed the staircase. "Canary cream! I was only joking!" She walked up the winding stone stairs. She reached the heavy oak door and knocked on it. There was no answer. Opening the door she peered around and saw he wasn't in. She sat in one of the chairs, beside the perch Fawkes, the phoenix. He was shining brightly and pruning himself. She pulled out the box and took out the bracelet. It was quite warm, so it warned her that another vision was coming. She stared back at the diamond and as always, the mist began to clear, and she was back in the uncomforting room.  
  
"What?" she heard Harry's voice cry. "They're going to kidnap Ginny? Are you sure? Oh, damn, I'll need to get Dumbledore's advice on this one. I also need to go and see him anyway, I need to find out when I can stop hiding and go home."  
  
The robed figure beside Harry nodded and she could barely hear his voice.  
  
"He's still at the ministry. When will he be back? Oh great, I'll go soon, and who knows, might find the time to use the cloak and see Ginny and our child."  
  
The robed figure slipped out the room. Harry turned back to his desk and started writing. The mist started to thicken and then Ginny slipped it back into the box and waited. She noticed a mirror and her curiosity again got the better of her. She noticed it had `erised' written all over it. She stepped in front of it and gasped. She could see herself and Harry with three children all smiling and waving back at her. She reached out to touch them and her fingers touched glass. She watched them for a while before returning to the seat, sensing that Dumbledore would be here soon.  
  
When he arrived she told him everything she had overheard at the manor and before she got to ask him about Harry, she gave a small yelp of pain. Something very hot had burned her thigh. She took out the box and touched the bracelet. It was boiling hot. Warily she watched as the mist cleared and she saw Harry.  
  
"You've got a visitor Potter." A cheery man appeared in the door, with a dark robed figure behind him. As the cheery man left the robed figure drew out his wand and hissed, "I've waited a long time for this Harry, a very long time. Can't you remember me? Your memory must be poor, I'm Goyle, Harry. Stupid, thick, strong Goyle. But I was never stupid, I just hid it behind me. Malfoy should be here, not me. But Malfoy turned good and almost got his father in Azkaban, stupid idiot. He decided his loyalties lie with Dumbledore instead of his master. But now I'm here and I'm going to kill you Potter. Revenge will be sweet after many years of wanting and loathing." He raised his wand and Ginny watched helplessly wanting to scream her mouth slightly open but no sound coming out. She watched despairingly, wanted to help but she couldn't.  
  
"Avada..."Goyle started.  
  
Then the bracelet started glowing brightly and shaking, the image was shaking.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Goyle yelled, as large burn marks appeared all over his body and his wand disappeared in flames.  
  
She saw Harry watch with a puzzled expression on his face and then he yelled, "STUPEFY!" and Goyle fell onto the ground, Stunned.  
  
The bracelet stopped glowing and the image faded with the glowing and inside Ginny's head blackness started taking over and she fainted.  
  
"You know the story about Tiger Lily, I told you last week?"  
  
"Yes!" came several eager cries.  
  
"I found something else out, but this part of the story shall be short. During the months of sorrow she went through after her husband threw it down the deepest well. She would have killed herself that very day but Tiger was a kind and caring soul. She wanted to help someone in the future, whose husband had gone or been killed so she made another bracelet. The bracelet was almost identical to her own, except the part that would go round her wrist was gold, hers had been silver. She tested it out and found it worked. The next night she killed herself using a poison."  
  
"But what happened to the bracelet?" George asked, wide eyed, and for once he seemed to be taking something seriously.  
  
"No one knows," her mother said in a mystical voice. "No reliable sources from that time tell us. Tiger Lily left no note. But we know what she called the ring, and a song she wrote with it. Have you ever heard of the Christmas carol The Holly and The Ivy?" They all shook her heads and she flicked her wand and music began to play and voices sing. When it had finished she continued. "There is evidence that Tiger wrote this carol in her own depression. The holly bears a berry as red as any blood, the holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn, the holly bears a bark as bitter as a gall." She paused again. "Those a words in the carol and many believe Tiger wrote this carol and named her ring after it, The Holly And The Ivy. No one knows where the bracelet is. Many think it is hidden somewhere, many think the bracelet will find it's way to those who need it. Go on now, bed time."  
  
"NO!" They all cried. "We want more."  
  
"If you don't be good children and go to bed I'll not tell you any stories for a week." Groaning they walked up to their bedrooms and fell asleep thinking of the bracelet.  
  
Ginny stirred and opened her eyes. Sunlight was flooding through. She noticed Dumbledore sitting by her bed.  
  
"What happened?" she asked, remembering what had happened.  
  
"I do believe you have found Tiger Lily's bracelet."  
  
(A/N. Oh my god! What a coincidence! I wonder why on earth I put the flashback stories in?!)  
  
"Somehow it fell into your possession, it knew it was needed. And what happened," Dumbledore continued, "was something like on the night Harry died, only different. Your love was so strong that somehow it forced its way through the diamond and helped him. You're the one that burned Goyle's body and set alight his wand. And I believe the effort was quite too much for you and then you fainted."  
  
"Where is Harry?"  
The twinkle faded in his eye and his face grew serious. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you, or what he is doing and why he faked his death. But he is alive and if this new plan of his goes well, well we'll see."  
  
OK, Ok, I know. That was the worst chapter of the lot and that ending was rubbish and the bit when she explained to Dumbledore was so out of his character but review and you'll get the next chapter. It might get weirder but somehow it will all work out. And I got the lines out of the carol, amazingly and made up the bit about Tiger Lily. 


	4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear

It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Ms. Rowling with the exception of those that aren't in the book.  
  
A/N. If I say names I'll ruin this whole story. Oh and I'm sorry about Ginny's change of heart in the first part of this. This part has no plan, I'm just writing as I go along.  
  
Sighing Ginny leant back in her chair and looked at the tree that she had spent the last two and a half-hours decorating. There hadn't been much point in putting up a tree this year, she wouldn't be at home. The Weasleys were having a reunion for Christmas where all the family and their families came up to the burrow. And she was glad; otherwise it would have been sad and lonely.  
  
The only thing that really comforted her was that she had managed to get a job, a secretary for Yvonne, under the Department of Magical Creatures.  
  
Two months ago, she had lost her job and two years before she had lost her husband and their twins.  
  
The bracelet Harry had given her remained normal and no more things she had seen. But this time, for real, Ginny seemed to have accepted Harry had died. Even though Dumbledore had said he was alive, even though she had saved him from Goyle. She hadn't seen anything in the bracelet for two months and it seemed like, inevitably he had died. In her heart was a tiny gleam of hope, but the optimism and surety he was alive had faded out of her.  
  
"Hi Ginny," Ron opened the door. "Haven't seen you for a long time, where's Harry?"  
  
Ginny went through the door into the sitting room where Hermione was playing with her kids in front of a fire. She sat down and in her head she heard Ron's voice asked ten times louder `Where's Harry?' She put her head on her hands.  
  
"Haven't you heard?" she said in a voice that was unlike her own.  
  
Ron shook his head looking apprehensive.  
  
"They got him, she choked out. "You Know Who and about ten Death Eaters came last night and they killed him and the twins have disappeared. I only lived because one of them, Draco, he stunned me instead of killing me."  
  
She gazed at them in despair, noting their shocked faces.  
  
"Don't you understand?" she started crying, tears rushing down her face. "They got him. He's dead and so are my children!"  
  
She looked out the window, it wasn't that dark. Maybe she could go up to Harry's grave. She pulled her cloak down around her and set off to the graveyard, taking along a bunch of roses she had got earlier on.  
  
The twins would have been eleven this year. She felt tears come in her eyes. She remembered the twins' likeness to each of their parents. They hadn't been identical. Carolyn had looked much like her. Flowing red hair, slim figure and with green-brown eyes, everyone that saw them commented on the rareness and beauty of her eyes. Tom had taken after Harry, untidy hair, no matter what he did with it, tall and thin, round glasses. The only similarities of the twins were their slim figures and the green-brown eyes.  
  
"Mum," Carolyn yelped. "Tom's got my school project and he isn't giving it back! I spent weeks on it and TOM! Mum, he's going to throw it in the river!"  
  
Tom was grinning naughtily, holding the thick project over the river. He was holding onto a tree in one hand and was leaning over the river, with the other hand holding it.  
  
"TOM! Please give it back. What have I done to you to deserve that?" Carolyn pleaded.  
  
Tom's grin widened. A sudden gust of wind swayed his balance and he fell into the water still clutching the project.  
  
"TOM!" Carolyn hurried over. "Are you OK?" She reached the bank and grabbed the project out of Tom's hand and threw it on grass. One hand, the one holding the project hadn't gone under and the project was dry. Tom came up, spluttering and he saw Carolyn's anxious face and the grin came back. He reached out his hand and Carolyn took it. Using most of his mind, he jerked his hand back and Carolyn landed in the water beside Tom.  
"When I get you for this!" she splashed water over Tom, laughing.  
  
Ginny watched them, smiling.  
  
Ginny traced the words on his grave with her finger, as she often did.  
"Wish you'd come back," she whispered.  
  
"And I wish I could be back home with Ginny and the child." Ginny's heart leapt, that was Harry's voice. She looked around wildly, trying to see where it had come from. Her gaze fell on her wrist. Unknowingly, the bracelet was on it, shaking slightly and the diamond had become clear.  
  
She could see Harry's figure, standing on the beach, sand getting blown everywhere and the foam from the waves was flying high into the air.  
  
"You never know, maybe this spying on Voldemort business has finished. After the plan went so well, he's gone. Everybody knows that he is dead, they just don't know which Auror did it. You'll probably be coming home soon, and revealing you used a fake dummy thing that Voldemort thought was you and killed it." A man, the cheery man was standing beside Harry.  
  
"If she'll have me." Harry fixed his gaze on the sea. "Ever since she thought I'd died she'd send letters on Hedwig, only I couldn't write back. She stopped writing about a month ago, like she's given up hope."  
"She'll have you back," the man said gently. "Wives always do. She probably believed in her heart you were alive and she stopped, believing you had. But no one should ever give up hope. So nor should you Harry."  
  
"You're right," Harry was still staring out to sea. "Suppose you're be going to be going home to your family soon?"  
  
"Yeah," the man fumbled for something in his pocket and finally drew out a photograph. "That's my wife Annabelle, and my kids. The girl is called Helene and the boy is called Julian."  
  
"Harry, I love you still," Ginny whispered, sensing the vision was going to stop soon.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Harry stared wildly around and Ginny's heart stopped. He couldn't hear her could he?  
"That voice?"  
  
"What voice?" the man looked at Harry, puzzled.  
  
"I heard Ginny, she said she loved me," Harry still looked around the beach.  
  
The man smiled. "Like I said, she'll have you back Harry. You heard her, she loves you."  
  
"You feed Carolyn, I'll do Tom," Ginny told Harry, spooning out baby food into bowls and handing him a spoon. "Tom's a bit hard to control sometimes."  
  
She put some of the mixture on the spoon. "Look Tom the aeroplanes coming!" she cried and landed it in his little open mouth.   
  
When she'd finished and had turned her back on him, she a `splat!'  
  
She turned round and saw Tom waving a spoon triumphantly in the air laughing and Harry staring at him in amazement, a patch of food on his nose.  
  
Ginny couldn't stop herself, she started laughing.   
  
Ginny walked back home slowly, pulling her cloak closely around her. She felt happier. That was the first time she had seen Harry in two months.  
  
She gazed up the sky. Cold and clear weather always brought out the starry sky. As she looked up, snow started to fall, flying lazily down and landing on the icy path. Christmas Eve and it was snowing, maybe they would have a white Christmas after all.  
  
She opened the door and stepped quickly into her house with quite a bit of snow.  
  
"Lumosded." A bright, warm, cheery fire sprang up in the fireplace.  
  
Shivering slightly, she sank down beside it and fell asleep.  
  
Hermione put her arm around the sobbing Ginny.  
  
"It's Ok," she whispered.  
  
"NO IT'S NOT," Ginny shrieked, tears still pouring down her cheeks. "Harry's gone, Tom's gone and Carolyn's gone! Why can't they have just killed me as well? They killed my whole family!"  
  
Hermione's arm tightened around Ginny's shoulders.  
  
"Ginny, much as you blame yourself, don't. It wasn't your fault."  
"It was! If I had been an Auror I probably would have uncovered the plot."  
  
"If you'd been an Auror, they'd have made sure you were out the way," Hermione said, tears glistening in her own eyes. "But somehow Ginny, I don't think Harry's died. He survived you Know Who eight times, somehow Ginny I think Harry's still with us."  
"Don't be stupid!" Tears still raced down her cheeks. "He died! The ministry is at my house and looking for clues! They've taken his body away! He's dead!"  
"In the physical world maybe," Tears slowly made their way down Hermione's face. "But Ginny Harry hasn't left the people he loved most. Look to your heart Ginny and you'll find he's still there."  
  
Ginny woke with a start. Hedwig had landed on her shoulder, and hooted in her ear.  
  
"Hello Hedwig," she ruffled the owl's white feathers. The owl hooted again and held out her leg. Attached was a note. Ginny untied it, wondering what Ron wanted now. She opened it  
  
To our mother,  
  
We never knew how much we missed and loved you until we left you.  
  
Love Carolyn and Tom.  
  
PS. Can you open the door? It's freezing out here!  
  
Outside she heard the cloak chime midnight, a new day, Christmas day. Maybe it was the Death Eaters new idea to get her, but Voldemort had died, two weeks ago. And that was the twins' writing and... She hurried towards the door, deciding on taking the chances.  
  
Before she reached the door, her bracelet fell out her cloak pocket. The diamond was clear.  
  
"Are you sure Mum's in?" she could hear Tom's voice.  
  
"Maybe she went to grandmothers." Carolyn said anxiously. "Maybe we should go there."  
  
"She's here all right. You wait." That was Harry's voice.  
  
She could see them standing together beside the door. And her bracelet would never lie to her.  
  
She went down the stairs and opened the door and there they all were standing on the doorstep, all smiling.  
  
And in the distance Ginny could hear carollers singing, "It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of the old..." while she hugged her long lost family, tears of joy pouring silently down her face.  
  
REVIEW please! 


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